Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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Burden

It is not weariness
That bows me down,
But sudden nearness
To song without sound.

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Desperately wishing he could leave the premises, Draco scowled angrily in the dark. If he was at the manor, all he would have to do is call out for a house-elf. How long had he been stuck in this desolate place? Two weeks? Maybe even three; he'd lost count already. The burning pain of his injured arm started up again; the anesthetic was wearing off, probably because he was supposed to be asleep at this hour. However, he couldn't sleep; the nightmares that waited scared him.

Draco thought back to the previous afternoon, at which time he'd drifted off only to be awakened by the presence of someone in the room with him. He'd had enough experience from the past to know that it was dangerous to let your guard down and fall into complete unconsciousness; well, it was dangerous for him. It'd turned out to be Weasley, no surprise. He could have remained "asleep" but the opportunity to irritate her was too good to pass. The way her eyes would narrow and her face would turn red (he was quite partial to the red) it was just like the old times back in Hogwarts.

A pang streaked through him at the memory of the days before now. Everything seemed easier then, sure there was the constant pressure of his father and desperately trying to keep up in the piles of lessons and homework the professors piled on them but everything was a routine. He didn't have to worry if he was going to wake up alive the next day or be plagued by the all haunting sins he'd committed. Draco inhaled deeply and then blew all the air out. Reality was so much worse than what he'd imagined of it.

There were hushed whispers outside is door at that moment, immediately he shut his eyes but concentrated on the voices.

"…Don't go anywhere near room 701942 on the fourth floor." It sounded female to Draco; perhaps it was Weasley coming back for more. "It's completely off limits; I tried going up there once and Jason Foster completely unhinged on me."

"Why?" Another female.

"I have no absolutely idea; he's hiding something, that's for sure. The only one allowed around there is Ginny and you know how he always is around her." Definitely not Weasley then.

The other voice snorted, "she thinks she's better than all of us, pulling all those hours.

Honestly, who does she think she's kidding? And poor Harry Potter who's always dropping by," there was a pause before continuing. "She's not even that pretty."

"Yeah, but keep your voice down. We don't want any of this getting back to her." The two of the gossipers had begun walking again, their voices fading along with their presence.

Poor Harry Potter indeed. Draco sneered at the name, discontent clear on his face even though there was no one to see him in the dark. So Weasley was hiding something on the fourth floor, something that no one was allowed near. It intrigued him and the no-limits rule just made it a challenge for him; he always did like a challenge.

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He paced the floor of the waiting room anxiously, constantly running his fingers through his uneven ink hair. People were staring at him but he didn't quite particularly care about them. Rehearsing what he was going to say next in his head, Harry looked down at his left palm where he'd written down his speech. Unfortunately, it was completely smudged and unreadable from the excessive sweating.

"Harry!"

His head jerked up at the approaching woman and instantaneously, he felt his throat turn dry and his tongue like sandpaper. "Hi, Gin."

"Hey, was there something you wanted me for? The others told me you came by yesterday but I was a little busy."

"Uh… yeah," he said breathlessly, his mind was a blank slate as he searched for something to say. Instead, he grinned stupidly at her while his sweat glands overworked themselves.

"Harry? Are you okay? You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine." Now that she mentioned it, the room started to swim a little. "I just wanted to see if you um…" Harry's courage began to waver as Ginny looked back him with worry on her delicate features.

"Whatever it is, Harry, just spit it out. I've got a two o' clock shift I need to get to."

"Ron wanted me to ask you if you wanted to have dinner with us tonight, Hermione's cooking," he lied. The truth was that he'd wanted to take Ginny out, just him and her, but the right words were unable to come out of his mouth.

She raised an eyebrow on her confused expression, "couldn't he have just sent an owl?"

"Uh…"

"Ginny!" Someone else had yelled out her name and alerted her attention. A small mediwitch dressed in the identical uniform ran up to her. "They need you on the fourth floor, someone's having convulsions."

"Sorry Harry," she said apologetically as she quickly left with the other woman.

As soon as she disappeared out of sight, Harry ran his fingers through his hair again, muttering to himself, "stupid, stupid…" He turned and kicked the nearest wall, earning many disapproving glances from the people around him.

With Ginny gone, there was nothing to do but to leave. He considered dropping a visit on Malfoy just to stall his time at the hospital but they could hardly stand each other for more than five minutes. With one last hopeful glance down the hall Ginny had just vanished into, he sighed and stepped into the waiting lift.

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"Malfoy!" Ginny squeezed her eyes shut in frustration, trying to rein in her fury. She'd dashed all the way from the fifth floor down to the one below it for a patient that, she'd been told, was in convulsions only to find the smug Slytherin lying calmly in his bed. "This is not an emergency!"

"Of course it is; this place is boring me to death."

"So, you send Evangeline to get me?" she demanded in disbelief.

"I asked nicely," he pouted but Ginny knew it was a fake, she knew him too well.

"I don't have time for your games, Malfoy. Some of us actually have work to do."

"Why? You get the entire afternoon off today until the evening."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "how did you—!"

"It's amazing kind of information you can get out of the women around here."

She continued to glare vehemently at him; he met her hot gaze with his cool, stone eyes. It was a contest between them until the distant sound on breaking glass broke their contact. Abruptly, she turned; ready to leave but his voice brought her back again.

"Weasley, I'm bored. I didn't send for you to just leave again."

"Why don't you just entertain yourself with the rest of the women around here?" she spat. "I'm sure they'd be more than willing."

"Unfortunately, the old bat that patrols this hall is keeping a close eye. I can't do anything."

"Entertain yourself, you over-sized ferret."

He raised his bandaged arm at her. "Can't do anything without this one."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Sure you didn't." He rolled his eyes.

Ginny closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "what do you want?"

A mischievous smirk flashed on his perfect features. "Well, I was thinking along the lines of…" he trailed off when he leaned forward to whisper the rest in her ear.

"What!?" she exploded, she raised her outstretched hand to slap him but he grabbed her wrist before she could make contact with his face.

"Now, now Weasley," he tsked, "play nice now."

"The only time I would ever undress for you is if you were dead," she hissed, absolutely seething with fury. She left with a loud slam of the blameless door behind her, storming down to the reception area. "Lissa, I'm taking the rest of this week off. Please inform the rest."

The surprised secretary witch looked up just in time to see Ginny stomp into lift and the doors sliding closed behind her.

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A/N: Current Mood: My spidey senses are tingling! -- Wft? That's not a mood 0-o

Ok, so I lied about the last chapter being the last update before April but you peeps get another chapter, so it's all cool.

My internet is not working at the moment and it is really really pissing me off. Our internet company is a real piece of shit but it's not like we really have a choice.

We have a basketball tournament this week, I wish I could go watch and go cheer on my school team but I have to work. Bleh.

Hmmm… what else is going on?

Oh, we got goldfish. I know, not a big thing to get excited about but considering I've never ever had any pets before, it's pretty big for me. Though they are kinda boring, all they do is swim around and shit all over the tank. Sometimes, Jasper goes up to the surface and makes a bunch of bubble :D

Credits and Sources:

Baby Names World:

Evangeline-Good news bearer (Ginny might be pissed off but at least she brought the two of them together)

Rampersad, Arnold, David Roessel. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. (326).

Reviewers: I totally missed toxicvampire01 from chap 7. Totally sorry!

brooke-ella1690- Haha, I love bad jokes, the fact that they're so corny that it actually makes it funny.

I love Twilight, absolutely one of my favs. Thanks for the review.

JulieMalfoyZabini- Thanks, I'm glad you liked Luna, I always thought of her as having several different personalities/sides to her. Not just the dreamy one that she's often portrayed as. And thanks for the sympathy and wishes for the trip. It's a huge chunk of money I have to shell out  but it'll be fun. I'll bring back pics and post them somewhere. I'll give you guys a link!

Oh, and you changed your name from Tomsgirl2005. Didn't quite recognize the name at first ;)

Flipinpenname

this-recurring-dream

Khristin

Recommendation:

You know cute Rufus the naked rat from Kim Possible. Yeah? Well, naked mole rats are ugly!!!!!! I looked one up on Google and it is the ugliest thing I have ever seen! Ugh!

Right, so sorry, nothing to recommend, so how about a poll!?! My friend, LeAnna, and I have this huge argument about who's ugly and hot. So PLEASE prove her wrong!!

Who's hotter?

Nick Wheeler the sexiest guitar player ever from the All American Rejects. WOW!!

OR

Jared Leto who played the gay lover of Colin Farrell in Alexander and tapped every chick from Cameron Diaz to Scarlett Johanson. He has these really screwed up expressions and he wears more eyeliner than I do, and I wear a lot of eyeliner peoples.

Look them up on Google if you have no idea what they look like.

You know you want to make me happy :D